'God's Own Country' Stops Amazon Streaming After Censorship

UPDATE (5/20/20): After news broke that Amazon Prime was airing a version of God's Own Country without certain sex scenes, the edited version has been removed from the platform.

A representative for the service, reached by Out, asserts that the company did not censor the scenes in question. Instead, the edited version was uploaded by the provider Samuel Goldwyn Films, who would have offered the new cut. In addition, the representative said that Prime also did not remove the film from streaming. That was also done by the provider.

ORIGINAL (5/20/2020): God's Own Country is a beautiful film -- truly. It's possibly one of the most slept on queer films from 2017. It, in our opinion, also contains some of the greatest gay sex scenes in film history. But apparently, Amazon has edited some of those scenes out of the version currently available on Amazon Prime.

"Dear Friends in USA," Francis Lee, the director of the project tweeted on Tuesday. "God's Own Country appears to have been censored on Amazon Prime. Until this is investigated please do not rent or buy on Amazon Prime. It is not the film I intended or made. I will report back."

According to some who have streamed the version on Amazon Prime, at least two sex scenes are missing. Reviews on the service posted this month call the footage airing there "an abridged version," noting that it's "missing the graphic scenes which really takes away from the film."

The version available for purchase, as opposed to streaming, does not censor the scenes.

As recently as last month, the film was streaming in full on Netflix but has since been removed. It follows its main character Johnny, who is caring for his impaired father. He finds himself entangled with the Romanian Gheorghe, in a brutal, but still indelibly sexy love story.

For those who want to watch God's Own Country elsewhere, it's available on YouTube, Google Play, and Vudu.

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